The Power of Routines

09/28/2017

I have come to understand our work in early childhood education and our everyday life with children as a political act. We are building democracy from the ground up.
Misa Okayama, Making Adjustments

"Rituals, the flashy, more exciting cousins of routine, are the ceremonies we use to mark life's turning points, such as holiday gatherings and other community- or family-based celebrations. And they are, of course, an important way to express and foster connections with others. But routines haven't had the same good press. Where rituals are about pomp and ceremony...routines, well, they're just so routine. We do them without thinking. So why should you work more of them into your life?" asks an article in Best Health Magazine. Here's how they answer:

"'Routines are like mental butlers,' says Michael McCullough, a professor of psychology at the University of Miami. 'Once you have a routine in place, then the mental processes that make the behaviour happen take place automatically.'

"You save time and energy and reduce stress by skipping the mental to-ing and fro-ing of making a decision, and slide directly into getting the task done. Instead of creating each day from scratch, routines create a framework of small decisions you no longer have to make, so you have more time to devote to things that matter."

And in an "Out of the Box" Training Kit called Eliminating Transitions = Eliminating Chaos, the authors also sing the praises of predictability for children, writing that "having a daily schedule that creates routines for young children is an essential part of an early childhood classroom."

Source: “The Power of Routines,” Best Health Magazine, January/February 2010

Gryphon House - Never EVER Serve Sugary Snacks on a Rainy Day.

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